How much yeast for cold-ferment pizza dough?
A baker's-percentage chart for 24, 48, and 72-hour cold ferments — plus how to convert between yeast types.
The single most confusing thing about cold-fermenting pizza dough is the yeast. The longer the dough sits in the fridge, the less yeast it needs — too much and it over-proofs into a sticky, boozy, domed mess by day three. Here's the chart, in baker's percentages (percent of flour weight).
Yeast by cold-ferment time
For a standard home fridge at about 38–40°F (3–4°C):
| Cold ferment | Fresh yeast | Instant dry (IDY) |
|---|---|---|
| 24 hours | 0.20–0.30% | 0.07–0.10% |
| 48 hours | 0.10–0.15% | 0.03–0.05% |
| 72 hours | 0.05–0.10% | 0.02–0.03% |
These are percentages of your flour weight. So for a 1,000 g flour batch fermenting 48 hours, IDY works out to roughly 0.3–0.5 g — a small fraction of a teaspoon. As a sanity check, Ken Forkish's overnight straight dough uses 0.8 g IDY per 1,000 g flour (about 0.08%), which lines up with the short end of this table.
Beyond about three days the gluten starts to break down and the dough can over-ferment — going slack, alcoholic, and prone to mold. Below ~36°F the ferment stalls instead. Keep cold ferments inside the 24–72h window.
Converting between yeast types
Recipes call for whichever yeast the author uses. To swap, anchor to the industry conversion chart:
| Convert | Rule |
|---|---|
| Fresh (cake) → ADY | divide by ~2.5 (1 g cake = 0.4 g ADY) |
| ADY → IDY | use ~75% of the ADY weight |
| Fresh (cake) → IDY | divide by ~3.33 (1 g cake ≈ 0.3 g IDY) |
| Sourdough levain ≈ IDY | roughly 20× the IDY weight in 100%-hydration levain — approximate |
The sourdough conversion is a rough rule of thumb only — starter activity varies enormously, so treat it as a starting point and adjust by how your dough actually behaves.
Gear this guide uses
Tiny yeast doses for long cold ferments only work if you can actually weigh them.
- A 48-hour batch needs roughly 0.3–0.5 g of yeast — weigh it on a 0.1 g precision scale, not a teaspoon.
- This chart is built around instant dry yeast (IDY); the conversions cover ADY and fresh if that's what your recipe uses.
- Keep the long ferment at a steady 38–40°F in lidded dough proofing containers.
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Sources
Baker's percentages are a starting point — adjust to your flour, kitchen, and fridge. This article is general guidance, not a guarantee for any specific batch.